Inzaman given one-year extension as captain
By our correspondent
KARACHI: Inzamam-ul-Haq was given a one-year extension as Pakistan captain by the ad-hoc committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday after a meeting that lasted for three and half hours with all the members in attendance.
The meeting attended by the Chairman Shaharyar Khan, Director cricket Operations Saleem Altaf and members Ali Reza, Mueen Afzal, Dr Naseem Ashraf and former test player Imtiaz Ahmed decided to retain Inzamam and Younis Khan as his deputy for the coming tours to Sri Lanka and England, the ICC Champions Trophy in India and the home series against West Indies this winter.
A number of important and progressive decisions were taken at the meeting but the PCB only released a few of them for reasons best known to them through the signature of Shaharyar Khan.
Inzamam, 35, who was appointed a full-time captain in November 2003 after the stepping down of Rashid Latif has enjoyed considerable success last year but the last week has seen him lose the one-day series to India.
In the last 12-months under his captaincy, Pakistan have drawn Test series in India and the West Indies and beaten England and India at home besides winning one-day rubbers before suffering their first loss to India.
Inzamam who has appeared in 107 Tests and 355 One-day Internationals said that he was happy with the fact that the board had once again reposed faith and confidence in his leadership qualities and said that he would try his best to revive the good performances of the team and start off by trying to win the final one-dayer in Karachi on Sunday.
The board said that it had decided to retain Inzamam and Younis as a matter of policy to ensure stability and continuity in the team. Sources said that there had been some discussion on retaining Inzamam as captain for such a long period given the current form of the team and his frequent back problem but in the end, it was decided that he had done well with a young team and needed to be given confidence.
The committee also decided that bowling should assist the Pakistan team and fielding coaches in future series but these would not be permanent appointments. The bowling coach would come from the panel of qualified coaches being appointed to the National cricket academy while it was decided that the board should contact former South African fielding great, Jonty Rhodes to work on a contractual basis. “Rhodes will be asked to come and help out the team before a series but he will not be attached with them,” a board official said.
The committee also approved the proposal for the expansion and upgrading of International stadiums throughout Pakistan. Land is being purchased for a modern cricket stadium in Islamabad and plans have been prepared to substantially increase capacity in Karachi. Expansion and upgrading of stadiums in Lahore, Faisalabad, Peshawar and Abbottabad was also approved in principle.
In order to improve pitch conditions at all the international venues, the Ad-hoc Committee approved the PCB’s proposal to invite experts from the New Zealand Turf Research Academy to assess the sub-soil at our venues. Once the data has been received, an international seminar will be held to decide measures to be taken to improve our pitches and ground conditions.